NEW ORLEANS — Cleantech Open, the world’s largest and longest-running clean technology accelerator, marked its 20th anniversary at the 2025 Global Forum, held Oct. 27–30 at the San Jose Convention Center in California. The event was co-located with VERGE 2025, a major climate-tech conference hosted by GreenBiz Group that brings together startups, corporations, investors and government officials to accelerate decarbonization and clean energy innovation.
Founded in 2005, Cleantech Open has supported more than 4,000 entrepreneurs and alumni companies have raised more than $4 billion in funding.
Cleantech Open - New Orleans Cohort
For participants from Cleantech Open New Orleans, the metro program that represents Louisiana within Cleantech Open’s South Central Region Accelerator, the milestone event was both a national showcase and the culmination of several months of training. The program is coordinated locally by Greg Delaune, co-founder and executive director of Deep Blue Institute and Deep Blue Academy, who also serves as metro director for Cleantech Open New Orleans and presented at the Global Forum in San Jose.
The 2025 Louisiana cohort, the first for the Cleantech Open New Orleans program funded by the Shell GameChanger program powered by NREL, included Beth Galante, principal of FORTIFYY, a digital marketplace for resilient home construction; Daisy Dodge of FLOAT, which designs modern floating homes; Jeremiah Piper, CEO of Renovigo Chemicals, which upcycles CO₂ emissions; and Stephen Herrera of Pinpoint Irrigation, a smart precision landscape hardware startup.
Galante served as part of the team that advanced to the Cleantech Open national semifinals, a milestone that helped demonstrate the company’s commercial readiness to the Shell GameChanger program. The initiative, which backs early-stage climate and energy innovators, is also supporting Louisiana-based efforts such as The Idea Village’s Coastal Innovation Challenge 2025 — offering up to $150,000 in non-dilutive funding and mentorship for coastal-adaptation and resilience startups — as well as Newlab’s new decarbonization and clean-hydrogen commercialization programs in partnership with GNO Inc.
“The Cleantech Open event gave us a chance to practice pitching our product, often to complete strangers who we had no prior connection with,” said Daisy Dodge of FLOAT Modern Houseboats which creates 700-square-foot, self-sustained floating cabin dwellings. Dodge said the experience allowed her to gain new perspectives on how to present her company to different audiences.
Participants said that being surrounded by other founders and emerging innovators offered valuable insight into how their own business operations stack up in the national clean technology landscape.
Beth Galante, principal of New Orleans–based FORTIFYY, said the event highlighted the importance of maintaining strong back-of-house operations — discipline, organization and consistency in managing the foundational tasks that make a business launch successful.
Galante said there weren’t a huge number of investors at the California event, but that she isn’t looking for many, just the right one. “We sat down with four different investment groups that are either already in the adaptation investment space or in the process of pivoting,” said Galante. “They are looking to shift their client’s investments into something that is clearly not only promising but is non-partisan.”
Jeremiah Piper, CEO of Renovigo Chemicals, said the combined VERGE and Cleantech Open setting was both inspiring and expansive for Louisiana entrepreneurs.
“It was amazing being over in San Jose at VERGE 2025,” he said. “It’s hard to break out of the Louisiana network. It is incredibly difficult to break that barrier out of the state and get onto that national stage. We were able to talk to some of the leaders in the industry, to other startups, and companies that have already said they can help us with elements of what we’re doing. Being able to be around other Cleantech companies that are all working towards the same goal and that all have the drive to do something was incredibly motivating.”
After returning from San Jose, the Louisiana cohort gathered Nov. 6 at The Nieux for a “Cohort Celebration & Startup Community Meetup” hosted by the Deep Blue Academy. The event marked both the completion of the national accelerator and the first year of the Cleantech Open New Orleans program.
Cleantech Open Global Forum
The Cleantech Open Global Forum brought together more than 90 startups from across the United States and around the world to showcase innovation and entrepreneurship in clean technology. The four-day program featured startup pitches, alumni panels and discussions on clean energy, sustainable materials, water, transportation and circularity — a strategy designed to minimize waste.
“Cleantech Open’s impact over the past 20 years has been extraordinary,” said Ken Hayes, executive director of Cleantech Open. “Our community of over 4,000 graduated entrepreneurs, 1,000 experienced mentors and 100 partner organizations continues to drive meaningful progress toward a cleaner, more sustainable future that also achieves business success. We’re proud to celebrate this milestone and the hundreds of companies transforming ideas into real-world impact.”
PolyGone Systems was named the 2025 U.S. National Winner for its development of advanced microplastic filtration systems designed to protect waterways and ecosystems. HYDGEN – Hydrogen Innovation Pte earned both the Runner-Up and People’s Choice awards for pioneering a safe, cost-effective approach to transporting hydrogen by repurposing natural gas pipelines.
This year, 96 startups completed Cleantech Open’s five-month accelerator program, which provides mentorship, business training and access to investors and industry leaders. Regional competitions across the country narrowed the field to 18 semifinalists who advanced to the Global Forum in San Jose.
